Method of reducing coke to produce battery-carbons.



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To all whom it may concern Be it meme that l, HAnR-I 'll. Jormson, a citizen of the United States, and .a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Reducing Coke to Produce Battery-Carbons, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a carbon of extreme purity and exceedingly high electrical conductivity and by a process that can be completed in a brief interval of time as compared with processes before employed.

As applied to the calcining of petroleum coke, the previous process has consisted in burning or heating the coke in a mufile furnace in which the coke is retained under heat for as much as forty-eight hours. By the-present process it may be conducted and completed in a very much briefer time even as little as two hours.

According to the present process the petroleum coke is broken up to any desired degree of fineness and is placed in a suitable furnace or retort, in which it may be subjected to a veryhigh temperature by burning it, the operation being preferably started by the use of a gas flame, although the method of burning or starting the combustion is not essential.

After the'mass of coke has become highl heated, air is introduced into the mass pre erably by a forced draft, thus continuing the heating and at the same time burning out all of the impurities, such as the-oil or other hydro-carbon found in petroleum coke. The application of the air is continued for a greater or less time depending upon the grade or quality of the petroleum coke or the amount of the impurities to be removed, the length of application beingdetermined empirically for each kind of coke or other carbonaceous material employed.

During the heating the mass of coke is agitated from time to time preferably by a suitable tool introduced into the mass to .allow the air to more thoroughly work through all portions of the char e of petroleum coke or other suitable car onaceous material in the furnace and to secure a thorough calcination as well as removal of every element of impurityand the Specification offlietter s Patent.

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thorough reduction of the charge of coke to an absolutely pure [carbon of exceedingly resistance, which is particularly suit able for use as a battery carbon.

By'usmg the forced draft and agitation, petroleum coke of the usual grade containmg say seven and one-half per cent of oil, can be thoroughly reduced or purified and the resultant product is nearly as good a conductor as pure graphite and of as low a reslstance as eleven one-thousandths of an ohm as compared with a resistance of eighteen one-thousandths of an ohm, practically the lowest resistance which it has been possible to obtain by the previous process of highly heating the coke in a muflie furnace for as much as forty-eight hours. After the heating and agitation conducted as above described, the contents of the furpace are drawn preferably while at a white eat.

It will be convenient in conducting the process, to start combustion with a combined air and gas flame or jet injected into the :mass, and after combustion is thoroughly started, to simply shut off the supply of gas from the jet and allow the forced draft of air to continue. The agitation of the mass from time to time after the mass has become thoroughly heated may be accomplished by the use of suitable tools introduced into the heated mass through an opening or openings in the side of the furnace.

It will be found advantageous to introduce the air blast at a number of points into the mass constituting the charge of the furnace and distributeit as much as possible to produce a uniform product.

An apparatus that may be used conveniently for practising the above process is shown and described in my application for patent in a kiln or furnace for calcining carbon, filed of even date herewith Serial No. 746,055.

WhatI claim as my invention is:

1. The herein-described improved method of reducing coke or similar material to a carbon of high electrical conductivity, consisting in bringing a mass of coke to a highly heated state by burning the coke in a furnace, forcing air through the heated mass of coke and thoroughly agitating the the operation until all of the impurities are removed and the mass is reduced to a carbon of the desired low resistance.

2. The herein-described method of reducing petroleum coke to a material of high electrical conductivity, consisting in burning the coke in a furnace, introducing into the mass of coke after the same has become highly heated a quantity of air under forced draft and thoroughly agitating the mass of coke and continuing the operation until the B. H. Ems, J. F. HEANEY. 

